Actually Anthony I honestly don't know but I would think not however it appears from what I am reading: ... the sed festival complex is close to the open statue courtyards of the later pyramid temples from the Fourth to the Sixth Dynasties. ... that it was part of the original design but your correction on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

It also has this to say which again would lead one to believe it was part of the original design:

... On the west side stand thirteen chapels with two kinds of facades. The "Hall of the God" type (seh netjer) has a facade surrounded along the sides by half-round mouldings. The "Great House" type (per uer) represented the Upper Egyptian shrine, which originally consisted of a light, wood-frame structure over which matting was attached. The facade was decorated by a group of three fluted half-columns, which imitated the plant Herculaneum Giganteum, including its dried flower petals. It represented a small chapel with an opening into which a symbol of the god was inserted at some time. The upper edge of the facade took the form of an arched vault. As on the east side, each chapel had a niche for the statue, which was accessible by a low ramp. On the north end of the western row of chapels a group of four statues originally stood, of which only the pedestals, two large pairs of feet (see photo) on the right and two smaller ones on the left, have been preserved. Usually, they are said to have represented Djoser, his possible mother Nimaathap, and his wife and daughter, Hetephernebti and Inetkaus.

At the south end of the courtyard was an elevated platform, on which the king's throne stood under a baldachin during the ceremonies. Here the ruler was symbolically crowned.

In the southwest part of the sed festival complex stood a smaller building, aligned north-south. Since we still do not know its function, it is generally called the Small Temple, and it also has slender, fluted half-columns. A corridor, whose arched shape repeats that of the southwest corner, provided access to this building from the coronation platform. No doubt here as well the architect was influenced by the construction methods of Early Dynastic Period buildings. The curve is modelled on either woven mats or mudbrick masonry, whose strength would have been reduced by using a right angle. ...

If you can date this curved roof that would be much appreciated.

Don Barone

" If everything is simply a coincidence what then is the point of studying or measuring or analyzing anything in the ancient world ?" db